Apple sells 3 million fourth generation iPads and iPad Minis… in a weekend

Apple has announced that on the opening weekend of iPad Mini and fourth generation iPad sales, it sold three-million tablets. Yes, the sales of both tablets combined amount to three-million, which, for all we know, means that it sold 2 999 999 fourth gen iPads, and one iPad Mini.

In a press release, the company said that it had “doubled the previous first weekend milestone of 1.5-million Wi-Fi only models sold for the third generation iPad in March.” While it’s unclear exactly why Apple decided to group the sales figures of two tablets together and compare them to the sales figures of the Wi-Fi only version of one device. It did however say that “demand for iPad mini exceeded the initial supply.”

The Wi-Fi only and the Wi-Fi and 4G version of the fourth gen iPad’s predecessor, the now less than eight month old ‘new iPad’, sold 3-million on its own during its opening weekend back in March. The Wi-Fi and cellular version of the fourth gen iPad will be on sale later in the year.

“Customers around the world love the new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis. We’re working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand.”

Initial pre orders for the smaller iPad Mini were strong, and delivery dates for the white version of the device were pushed back on the Apple Store 20 minutes after it opened for pre orders. However, the shipping dates for pre-order are a difficult barometer to use to measure the success of a device, as it’s unclear how many tablets the company has ready for immediate shipping. As we noted previously, the usual lengthy queues which snake outside physical Apple Stores worldwide were absent in a number of countries for this launch.

The new iPads are currently available in 34 countries including the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the UK, with the roll out continuing in more countries later in the year.